Coastal Carolina Regional officials await FAA word on tower status

Tuesday

There is no word yet from the FAA on whether it will keep its contract air traffic controller towers including New Bern’s open after June 15, officials said Tuesday.

There is no word yet from the FAA on whether it will keep its contract air traffic controller towers including New Bern’s open after June 15, officials said Tuesday.

A bill passed by Congress on Friday to reverse temporary furloughs for air traffic controllers allows federal controllers laid off because sequestration cuts to return to work.

The FAA had no choice in cutting $635 million from its total budget but the bill allows it to move as much as $253 million in its budget to prevent reduced tower staff and operations after their short term absence caused flight delays and angered air travelers.

The congressional action provided enough money to pay contract tower staff from the June 15 layoff date through the Sept. 30 fiscal year end, but Coastal Carolina Regional Airport Director Tom Braaten said, “The language of the actual bill did not demand it. Discussions had been to do that, and we are hopeful that they are, but we don’t have official word yet.”

The furloughs that were fallout from $85 billion in automatic across-the-board spending cuts affected controllers at 149 contract control towers — five in North Carolina including New Bern.

Contract tower controllers’ furloughs were delayed until June 15 from initial announcements that would have let them go the first week in April and appeals to congressional representatives was thought to have successfully eliminated the need to close them at all.

“We are hopeful that the FAA will reconsider all of this is until the end of the fiscal year,” Braaten said.

“We know they still have to do something about sequestration,” he said, “but if they take until the end of the year and look at some towers that really don’t have traffic, they can reconsider those that have a lot of flight training and commercial traffic.”

Sue Book can be reached at 252-635-5665 or sue.book@newbernsj.com. Follow her on Twitter@SueJBook.

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